Sleep Is Not My Friend
by Heartless-are-squirrels
Summary: Based on prompt: sleep is not my friend. Tommy hasn't slept in a few days, and Billy's noticed.
The 'villain' of the day was no big threat, and so Billy and Tommy had been assigned to the job (for some ~brotherly bonding~, of course).

Billy took care of the getaway driver, Tommy went after the jewelry thieves that were trying to run. Tommy was pulling the rope out to tie the pair up, when a bullet grazed his side, cutting through his skin-tight suit and his flesh- one of the two shot him, in a lucky strike. Hissing in pain, Tommy forced himself to go faster, to tie the duo up, before he sprinted to help Billy with the getaway driver and the other two in the group of thieves. He ran as fast as he could with his vision blurring in and out of focus, and slipped on a shard of broken glass surrounding the broken displays of gold watches and necklaces, and he slid into the broken glass, cutting his hands on the display. The ensuing noise of more glass breaking momentarily distracted Billy and the other three, and one started firing off gunshots in the momentary distraction. Tommy moved the bullets, shaking almost too rapidly, and accidentally jerking his hand on a bullet, which sliced through his already cut fingers. Billy narrowed his eyes at the sight of Tommy's blood, and began to mutter,

" _Iwantthherobberstiedupinthevan,Iwanttherobberstiedupinthevan.._ " and more ropes materialized and tied the three up, in the van, as Billy had said.

The sound of police sirens pierced through the darkening sky, alerting the soul twins' that their job there was done and it was time to leave. Tommy ran to make sure Billy was okay, and the latter wrapped an arm around Tommy's side.

"Woah, ddude," Tommy protested, hating the way his speech slurred from it's normal speed. Billy just rolled his eyes, and said, " _Iwanttobeinmyroom,Iwanttobeinmyroom.._ " and the next second, they were there.

"Tommy, are you okay?!" Billy asked worriedly, pulling away to exam Tommy's now-healed cuts. There was some dried blood on the suit around the cuts, but Tommy wasn't bleeding anymore, and any other sign of an injury had vanished.

"Billy, bro, I'm ffine." Tommy responded, pushing Billy away more gently than he normally wold have. His twin peered at him in concern, picking up on the 'sluggish' movement (well, sluggish for a speedster, anyway) and the slurred speech.

"Well, sit down, okay? You seem a bit... worn out," Billy told him, gently pushing his brother to his bed. Tommy fell back onto the bed with no complaint, shockingly, and Billy's worries increased.

"You know he only worries because he feels like he _has_ to, right" Mary Shepherd whispered in Tommy's ear.

"No he doesn't," Tommy muttered aloud, and Billy frowned as he sat next to him.

"Tommy, who are you talking to?" Tommy looked at Billy, only to see his mother scowling at him in the doorway.

"How'd _she_ get in here?!" Tommy hissed with a scowl of his own. Billy looked at the doorway, following Tommy's line of vision, and saw no one.

"Tommy, there's no one there. It's just us. Are you feeling okay?"

"He doesn't _really_ want to know, Thomas. What he really wants is for you to be out of his hair. Don't delude yourself into thinking anyone could actually _care_ about an abomination like you." Mary told him scornfully.

"I know, Mary, I _know_!" Tommy snapped, louder than before.

"Tommy, who's Mary? What's wrong?" Billy pleaded, his heart beating fast with anxiety. Then, suddenly, something clicked in Billy's head. "When was the last time you slept?" Tommy looked down at the beige carpet, scowling. "Tommy..." Billy said in a warning voice.

"It'ss not thaat bad, man, I'mm _fiine_."

"Your speech is slurred, you _let a bullet hit you_ , you _slipped_ on _glass_ , and now you're _seeing people who aren't there and talking to them_! My mom is a psychiatrist; I _know_ the signs of not having slept! So tell me _honestly_ \- when was the last time you actually got some sleep?!" Billy demanded.

"It's uh, beeen a feew days I thhink?" Tommy responded after a few beats of silence.

"Are you going to tell him about how you're too _cowardly_ to face your own dreams, Thomas?" Frank Shepherd spat in disgust. "How you're too _pathetic_ to to be able to deal with something as _mild_ as not sleeping for three days? How you're too _cowardly_ to face your own problems? No- you'll just run away, because that's all you _can_ do, isn't it, _son_?" Frank sneered, and Tommy trembled, tears prickling his eyes. He hated himself for being weak enough to cry- these were all rather mild insults his parents were throwing at him, compared to their usual.

"Sleeep... sleeep jus' isn't myy friennd, Billy. I donn'... I don't want to... be back in thaat place..! I don't waant to see m friends die againn, and againn," a tear slid down his face, dropping onto his hands that Billy was gripping onto, holding Tommy there, making sure he didn't run away. "Sso...I jus keep myself busy, causse I don't... I don't wanna sleep." Billy was crying now, too, and he released Tommy's hands to give him a bone-crushing hug. Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the images of his parents rolling their eyes in disgust.

"Tommy, you aren't ever going back. I swear, I will kill those monsters before they ever get a chance to hurt you again." Billy told him fiercely. Tommy stiffened at the friendly contact, before hesitantly hugging Billy back.

"Thanks, bro," he whispered, and he opened his eyes hesitantly to find that his so-called _parents_ were finally gone again, and it was just him and Billy in the dark room.

"Now, you are going to get some sleep, and I'm going to stay right here with you and keep you safe, got it?" Billy told him after he pulled back, before gently pushing Tommy into a laying position. Tommy nodded faintly, and fell back on the bed, his head landing on incredibly soft pillows. Billy laid down next to him, and Tommy was asleep in seconds, breathing at his normal speed, much to Billy's relief.

It was the best sleep Tommy had had in years.


End file.
